(RNS) — A federal judge blocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ move to designate a Muslim civil rights organization as a terrorist group in the state, calling the governor’s attempt politically motivated and unconstitutional. 

Two months ago, DeSantis, a Republican, issued an executive order declaring the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in the United States, as a foreign terrorist organization and directed Florida agencies to deny government benefits to CAIR or those who support it. The group and its state chapter then sued DeSantis in federal court.

Mark E. Walker, U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Florida, ruled on Wednesday (March 4) that the executive order violated the organization’s First Amendment rights. 

“Once again, Florida chooses political posturing over the First Amendment,” Walker wrote in his ruling.

The court’s injunction allows CAIR-Florida to continue its work without government retaliation while the lawsuit plays out. CAIR has more than 20 chapters across the U.S., and its work includes advocacy and legal efforts.

Hiba Rahim, interim executive director of CAIR-Florida, said the judge’s ruling stopped a “targeted attack on the Muslim community.” During litigation, Rahim said, the group’s civil rights chapter did not stop its operations, calling the executive order “completely fallacious.”

But Rahim told RNS that the governor’s executive order had a “chilling effect” on the wider Florida Muslim community. She said donations to the organization fell and some public institutions and elected officials reconsidered their associations with the organization. 

“The language is broad enough to attack any organization or institution that the government is politically unsatisfied with,” Rahim said of DeSantis’ declaration.

DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a similar designation in November, labeling CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups, which he said would ban them from purchasing land in the state. 

Neither group is listed on the U.S. Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations, and the power to designate them is reserved for the federal government.

A lawsuit to block enforcement of Abbott’s order is pending in federal court. 

In a statement, Scott McCoy, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the groups that represented CAIR and CAIR-Florida in the suit, called the Florida block “a decisive victory for the Constitution and for the principle that no governor can place themselves above the law.”

“Gov. DeSantis attempted to wield the power of his office to smear a civil rights organization, silence its advocacy and intimidate those who support it,” he wrote. “The court rightly rejected that abuse of power.”

However, Florida legislators are expected to pass a bill that allows a handful of state officials to designate domestic or foreign terrorist organizations in the state. The measure passed the GOP-controlled Florida House on Tuesday. 

The bill “is incredibly unconstitutional, hugely problematic, and groups on the far left to the far right have a problem with it because they recognize the government overreach and the abuse of power,” Rahim said, adding that the legislation would be challenged in court.